Sunset Driving
by chazpez
Summary: Slash, Mick must choose between a lifetime with Beth and an eternity with Josef.
1. Chapter 1

"Mick, we've been over this before." Josef muttered, sliding a glass of scotch across the antique mahogany desk. "It's a bad idea to get involved romantically with a human. Why won't you just listen to me?"

They sat in Josef's office, high above the city streets that bustled with commuting traffic as people rushed home to their families. The sun was beginning to set, highlighting the sky in a golden hue that was broken only by the clouds as they made their sleepy way across the horizon. The floor to ceiling windows, double glazed specially for vampire use, allowed the office space to be adequately lit without artificial help.

Mick stared intently into the amber liquid as he considered his answer. Why _wouldn't _he just listen? Everything he and Beth had been through together, the trouble they had gotten themselves into screamed at him that things were wrong. If someone found out what he was, if a rogue vampire took a liking to her, there were so many things that could go wrong. At least if he was there, he could protect her, and Josef would too. And yet -

He could remember the way the moonlight hit her face as she took off her shoes to stride across the fountain in the centre of the plaza that first night they met. Some kind of determination in her eyes constantly declared to the world that the truth deserved to be told, no matter what the consequences were. People were entitled to have peace, she had told him once. And they made a great team. Already, she knew him well, as though they had been friends for much longer than in reality. Not as well as Josef knew him, that was true, but no one was ever likely to know him that well again. It had been difficult for them after the death of Josh, but if anything, they were closer because of it. Mick had watched Beth grow up, from a distance. He remembered the scared child he first encountered, and regularly found himself marvelling at the woman she had become. There was no one quite like her.

Of course he had considered the fact that Beth was mortal. It had never been far from his mind. She was breakable, frighteningly so. What was he going to do when she was forty, or fifty, or sixty? That was the biggest problem. He did not know if she had considered being turned, and he certainly wasn't sure if he was capable of doing it himself. Or if that was what he wanted for her. There were so many uncertainties when it came to Beth.

"She captivates me, Josef. I can't stay away from her. Can't you remember what that was like for you with Sarah?"

Josef took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, as if he was trying to put off the fact that he had to answer the question. He ran a hand quickly through his chestnut hair and spoke clearly, careful to choose the right words.

"Of course I can remember. You don't forget feelings like that. But look how that turned out. Fifty years later and she has no kind of life. And I did that to her. I regret that decision every single day of my existence. I don't want that for you." His tone shifted and he stared imploringly into Mick's eyes as he leant across the desk, pale hands twisting and untwisting themselves, almost pleading. Mick was a little taken aback. Josef had never appeared to show such concern before, only ever allowing himself to be slightly aloof. It was almost touching.

"Well, what do you suggest I do?" Mick asked. He knew that he couldn't make this decision on his own; he wasn't strong enough. He needed someone to make it for him - he needed Josef. If there was one person that could make a difficult decision, it was Josef. Especially when it came to other people's lives. He had a quick, confident and clinical judgment that allowed him to become the powerful investment banker he was. He certainly looked the part; when he wasn't wearing his trademark shirt, tie and braces, he was asleep. And he rarely made the wrong decision.

"You honestly want my opinion? No holds barred?" He arched his eyebrows, looking for confirmation that Mick wanted to hear _everything _Josef had to say. There was no guarantee he was going to like it.

"Of course, Josef. I value your opinion above everyone else."

He hesitated for a second with his head cocked slightly to one side, unsure as to whether or not he wanted to say what he was thinking anyway. There was no way of telling how Mick was going to react. He stood up, out of his seat and stepped around the desk to crouch in front of his friend, making a point of looking deep into the cerulean of Mick's eyes.

"Leave. Get out of the state, as far away from Beth as you dare to go. It won't end well, Mick, it can't. And it'll be you that gets hurt. I can't stand by and let that happen, not after Coraline."

There was silence for a few seconds, as Josef watched Mick process exactly what he'd just been told. He used those seconds to take a calculated risk, to plunge headfirst into the unknown. Bending closer, he kissed Mick softly, a mere brushing of lips, before straightening up and retreating back behind his mahogany desk, waiting for the explosion. He felt better now, as though some heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He had finally taken the first step. The next move belonged to Mick.

Suddenly he was up, and at superhuman speed, Mick had circumnavigated around the desk and now crouched in the same position Josef had taken up only a minute before. He kissed Josef back; a longer, firmer kiss that moved slowly along the jaw line until Mick's lips were hovering next to his ear. Josef relished the sensation of the whiskers on Mick's cheek as they brushed against his own clean shaven face. It caused him to let out an involuntary gasp.

"And where do you suggest I go?" Mick murmured. Then, as Josef had before him, he stood straight and flashed across the room, leaning casually against the bookshelf that lined the wall on the right hand side. In some unorthodox chess match, it was now Josef's move. Neither man was sure exactly how far they wanted to take the game. They watched each other intently, sizing one another up.

In a blink, Josef had Mick pinned, back to the wall. A third kiss, more fervent than the last, more passionate. Using his tongue, Josef explored Mick's mouth, pausing every few seconds to whisper a few words.

"I've been meaning… to leave for a while… myself," He suggested as though he were talking about a brief vacation for the weekend. "We could go… just the two of us." He broke the kiss and looked at Mick expectantly, panting a little. In anticipation, he ran his tongue along the underside of his fangs.

But the pause seemed to have dragged Mick's senses back; he pushed Josef gently away, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. There was a look of shock in his deep blue eyes that Josef had anticipated, yet still it caused him a pang of fear.

"I have to think." Mick said as he ducked underneath Josef's arm, which continued to keep him penned in against the wall. Josef silently let him go, looking solemn. Without another word, Mick escaped from the room, leaving Josef alone.

He sat down heavily at his desk, poured himself a large scotch that was laced with blood and drained the glass. The encounter had gone further than even he was anticipating. He had had no idea that Mick might have a fraction of the feelings Josef carried. It was an added bonus, and it certainly changed things. He wondered briefly if he had pushed things too far, or moved too fast, but quickly dismissed the thought from his mind. There was no use worrying about that now. What had happened had happened. He had learned the hard way that you couldn't change the past.

Still, he did not regret what he had done. Kissing Mick, he was sure, was the right thing to do. If he couldn't reveal tonight how he felt, then he probably never would. After all, it had been nearly a decade already. The hardest part was over. All he had to do now was wait. And pray that Mick didn't sever their ties to one another.

**Hello! Thank you for making it this far. I sincerely hope you bother to carry on. If you can, please review, I'd love to know what you think.**

**Charlotte. **


	2. Chapter 2

Mick made a poor attempt at keeping his speed believable to human eyes, but the further he ran the more difficult it became. He could remember going for runs all the time before he'd become a medic in the fifties; it helped him to think, to calm down and consider the problem that lay ahead. And when he ran, it would have been until he couldn't take another step. That took much longer since he had become a vampire.

He circled the town twice before coming to a stop outside of his own apartment. Mick swore as he caught his breath; there had been no conscious thought for him to come back here. He could hear a human heartbeat from the other side of the brick, and knew that Beth was waiting for him within. She was the one person he didn't want to see.

Having originally gone to Josef for help, the tables had suddenly turned. Now they appeared to be hanging upside down from the ceiling. He had no help this time, no sounding board for his ideas. The sounding board had kissed him.

And he had kissed back.

Suddenly the whole situation was bigger than just he and Beth. There was Josef to consider too. Mick leant against the wall and slid down into a crouch, holding his head in his hands as he tried to process. None of it made any sense. And what he needed most of all was some time to himself, to think things over. Josef's suggestion of leaving town for a while suddenly appeared to be a very desirable solution.

Josef. He was the single most heterosexual man Mick knew. In the decades they had known each other, he reckoned he could count on one hand the amount of times Josef had been seen without a beautiful woman on his arm. Every event he had ever been to involved drinking and a walking blood bank in a cocktail dress. But the kiss they had just shared told a different story. There was something behind it; some reaction of want and need. He had never known this kind of chemistry before - not with Coraline, and certainly not with Beth. Yet he had been in love with them, hadn't he? He was sure that he was in love with Beth right now. But it could not be denied. Josef had stirred something that had previously lain dormant within.

"Mick?"

He shot upright at the sound of his name, half expecting to find Josef standing in front of him. Instead it was Beth, hanging her head out of his apartment door like she'd heard her name being thought. The long blonde locks of her hair hung lazily in space as she waiting for his answer. He realized, with a stab of guilt, that although he'd intended to leave he had not actually done so. She stared at Mick uncertainly for a moment, trying to decipher the expression on his face. He looked older somehow, a combination of fear, confusion and happiness etched upon his timeless features. Slowly, she moved to stand in the hallway with him, hands fiddling nervously with the pocket of her jeans. It dawned on Mick that he had not answered.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" He gulped, and attempted to shift past her toward the door of his apartment. Try as he might, he could not inject any kind of surprise into his tone, and it sounded accusing. She noticed.

"I was waiting for you. You weren't answering my calls."

"I'm a little busy right now, Beth. Got some stuff I have to deal with." He knew he sounded dismissive, and wondered if her mind, as human female minds often were, was alert with a suspicion of infidelity. This time she wouldn't be far wrong. She looked for a second like she was going to protest, for she opened her mouth to speak, but apparently thought better of it. He could almost see her brain working to decipher the hidden meanings in his words as she considered offering to stay and help him deal with the 'stuff'. After what seemed like an age, she sighed and nodded.

"Okay. Call me later." Without waiting for an answer, Beth turned and walked away. The thought of this happening on a permanent basis felt like a stab in the chest, and Mick found himself quickly going back on his words. He flashed down the corridor and positioned himself in front of the elevator, blocking her exit.

She looked mildly shocked, but a demonstration of his speed was something she had seen before.

"Wait." He pleaded. "I'm sorry. Please don't go." Beth let Mick take her by the hand and lead her slowly back into the apartment. He was kissing her before they had made it through the door.

Soft, cautious kisses that quickly deepened with passion. Beth questioned for a second the motive Mick was keeping hidden by trying to distract her with romance. But she could smell the musky scent that was entirely his, and she could feel the muscles of his arms ripple beneath the thin jacket and t-shirt he was wearing. They continued to move backward, locked in an embrace, until Mick picked her up and placed her down again on the black suede sofa by the fireplace.

He traced the fingertips of one hand gently along the line of her jaw, allowing them to caress her neck as they made the descent toward the buttons of her blouse. With the other he swept her blonde curls back from her face, so that he could stare into the depths of her warm hazel eyes. Like an expert he removed them deftly from the holes, revealing the lacy pink bra Beth was wearing beneath. She moaned quietly into his lips, and taking that as instruction, Mick moved from her lips down to the hollow of her throat.

She had imagined this part before, and worried that once Mick felt her pulse quicken with desire, he would not be able to stop himself from clamping down on her artery. But this was not the case. If she had not have known his secret, she would have never suspected that Mick was anything more than a man, the care and attention he was taking. Following his lead, Beth began to work her hands underneath his t-shirt, pulling it up over his head in one swift movement. She ran her hands along his chest, feeling the muscles tense beneath her touch.

And then Mick was pulling back, retreating away from her, across the room. On the way he managed to pick up his t-shirt, and it was already back on by the time he reached the foot of his uncarpeted stairs. She could not see his face, but something about the way his shoulders heaved told Beth that he was on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her voice coated with concern. Her body would not allow her to move; she wanted to get up and go to him, look him in the eyes, but her hands refused even to button up her blouse. So she stared, looking dumb, and waited for Mick to answer her question. Seconds stretched into minutes as he took deep breaths in and out in an attempt to control himself.

"You need to leave." He muttered, so quietly she wasn't even sure she had heard him correctly.

"What?"

"You need to leave." Mick repeated, louder this time, more sure of himself. He sounded devastated, and she wondered what she could have done to push him away so quickly, to allow him to close up like this. Beth found herself heading toward the door, her blouse still open, fighting back tears of her own. How could he be so hot one minute and so cold the next?

She paused for a moment to look back at him, hoping that he had turned at least to watch her leave. He hadn't.

"I don't understand." She said, well aware that he could hear her perfectly. "Was it something I did?"

Mick's shoulders heaved again, and she watched him raise a hand to scrub the tears away from his face. Finally he turned, strode across the room, and stared Beth straight in the eye. He allowed himself a fleeting caress of her hand before he spoke.

"No. Don't ever think that. This was nice while it lasted, Beth, but that's the problem. It can't last. You're going to die, and I'm not. You're going to get old, and frail, but I'm not. I'm stuck in this body until someone has the good grace to set me alight. And I can't expect you to stay with me anymore than you should expect me to stay with you. What we have is wrong, Beth. Can't you see that?"

She shook her head resolutely, and wiped a runaway tear from her eye.

"No, I can't see that. What I see when I look at you is safety. I see years together, just the two of us. I may not be ready for you to change me now, but I might be ready some day. You're saying you can't stay for someday? You don't love me enough for that?"

Mick took a deep breath, and stared Beth straight in the face, preparing for the first lie he had ever told her.

"I don't love you, Beth. You aren't like me. We're worlds apart. Generations apart. There was never a chance for us."

The blood in her veins ran sub-zero, and Mick died a little inside watching her physically shiver as he spoke. Subconsciously, she hugged herself, rubbing the tops of her arms as though a wintry gust had found its way into the room. He thought for a moment that he could feel it too; the fireplace did nothing to shift the frigidity of the atmosphere. He truly did not believe that they had no chance together, but he couldn't tell her that. It would give her hope. And now, she would leave this apartment, and if she came back tomorrow, the place would be empty. And if she tried to call, the phone would be disconnected. And all she would be left with were the memories.

"You're lying, Mick, but I don't understand why. You've always been a terrible liar." She grabbed the door handle behind her, and without another word, left him in the wake of his own devastation.

As the door shut, Mick realized that there was probably a better way he could have delivered the bad news, and was sorely tempted to stop her again at the elevator. But this time he let her go. If she hated him, so be it. He had been hated before. Maybe it would stop her from coming back around, searching for him when he was no longer here.

Resisting the urge to call Josef, he surveyed the apartment, mentally packing everything into boxes until the walls became bare. He still wasn't confident that he had done the right thing, but it was too late to back on his decision now. He was going to take Josef's advice, and leave. But would he be leaving alone?

The elder vampire was undoubtedly the best friend that Mick had ever had. If he ever went anywhere, then he would want to go with Josef. The kiss had changed things, and it was something he still didn't understand. People didn't just change their sexual preferences overnight. Josef didn't just change his mind about something like that overnight. There were too many questions that Mick didn't know the answer to. And the only person that did was waiting for him, he expected. He could imagine Josef now, sitting quietly at his desk, drink in hand, waiting. The thought was almost comforting. Standing, Mick listened at the door for a few seconds just in case Beth had not left yet. Of course, there was no-one waiting, and he felt a pang of guilt for even considering she would be hanging around after everything he'd said. Locking the door behind himself, he started out again, heading back across town.

**If you have any suggestions for the plot, I'd love to hear them. You never know, they might turn up in the story later on! **

**Thanks again for your Alerts and Reviews.**

**Charlotte. **


	3. Chapter 3

Josef was indeed still sitting at his desk when Mick arrived. This had not been done on purpose, there were simply some extra pieces of paperwork to be filed, reports to be read, that kind of thing. He preferred to work late in the evenings than early in the mornings, for obvious reasons. Now the markets were closed for the day, the tie had been removed, and the top buttons of his shirt were undone. A glass of scotch, ever present, remained on the desk, a slightly reddish hue emanating from it both because of the soft light, and the blood within it.

He could hear the complaints of the security staff a couple of floors below, and stood to grab another glass for Mick, well aware that he would be arriving at any moment. Josef pretended to look angry and surprised when he barrelled through the door and started pacing in front of the desk.

"Wow. That took you just under two hours. I wasn't expecting to hear from you for days."

Mick scowled in his direction, but his pacing did not slow.

"Shut up, Josef."

"But if you're not here to talk, what are you here for?" Josef demanded, a sliver of amusement in his tone. He liked making Mick irritable; he'd get a crease under his eyes that could only be described as cute. The pacing stopped suddenly as Mick moved to lean against the bookcase. This was as far away as he could get without leaving the room.

"If I knew, I would tell you." He murmured, apparently deep in thought. He had planned to question Josef when he arrived, but now no queries seemed to form in his mind.

"Have you spoken to Beth?" Josef suggested.

"Kind of."

"And how did that go?"

"Badly."

Josef sighed. It was like getting blood from a stone. He knew Mick wasn't really a man of many words, but this was ridiculous.

"Are we leaving?" He asked, unable to keep from sounding hopeful. He had been waiting for this moment for almost a year now, ever since he had decided that Mick needed to know how he felt. The time had never seemed quite right before now.

"Well, I am." While they had been talking, Mick slowly stepped closer toward the desk, like he was approaching a dangerous animal. He swiped the drink off of the top and dropped heavily into the chair, exhausted. After rubbing his eyes gently, he finally looked Josef in the face. "But there are some things you need to answer before I consider whether or not you're coming with me."

"Fine. Ask away."

"What the fuck was that earlier, Josef?" Mick sat upright now, attentive. Somehow, he hadn't been expecting to given much information. But then, Josef did suggest no holds barred. This was the one question that had been anticipated by the older vampire. He paused for a few seconds looking as though he was simply choosing the right words, but then put it off.

"Which part, the suggestion of leaving or the kissing?" He answered instead.

"Both."

"Well, the suggestion of leaving came only from experience, Mick. I've got over three hundred years on you, don't forget. I've come to learn when the best time is to skip town. This thing with you and Beth is one of those times.

"As for the kissing, I thought I'd made myself quite clear, but apparently I did not. I kissed you because I think I love you, and I wanted to make sure. At the same time, I decided it was pertinent to let you know that I think I love you, and also try and see if you felt even a little bit the same. And considering that you kissed me back -" He held up a hand as Mick opened his mouth to protest, "- I'd say that, whether or not you are willing to admit it, you do. Feel something, I mean."

There was silence once more as Mick tried to mount some kind of defence, but he couldn't. The fact remained that he had kissed back. And he had no way of explaining that to himself, let alone to someone else. He decided to change tack.

"Since when did you think you loved me?"

"About ten years ago. I couldn't believe it myself, for a long time. And I tried to deny it for longer. I surrounded myself with women, to see if I could get over you, or convince my affections to change. But they didn't, and they haven't. There is no other man but you." He smiled thinly, as if it was funny to him.

Mick sat back in his chair, dumbfounded. For a decade, Josef had had feelings for him. What was worse was that Mick had not seemed to notice. What had been so important for all of that time that he couldn't see his best friend carrying this torch for him? He felt like he was the most self-centred person in the entire universe. How could he have missed it?

"Josef, I'm sorry." He mumbled into his glass. Suddenly he was unable to look his friend in the eyes.

"It doesn't matter. The point is, you know now. What are you going to do about it? Have I ruined things between us forever?" He tried to make light of the situation with a sarcastic, theatrical tone, but Mick could hear the fear in Josef's voice. He worried that he'd said to much, that he'd lost a friend by admitting how he really felt.

"Of course you haven't." He replied. "You can't get rid of me that easily. But I genuinely don't know what to do. Last I checked I was attracted to women, and then you kiss me and -"

"You felt something." Josef finished, quietly triumphant.

"I felt something." Mick repeated. He settled back into the silence once more, eyebrows knitting together as he considered the position he now found himself in. But Josef could not wait.

"Was it a good something?" Again, he tried to make light of everything, but didn't quite pull it off. He quickly raised his glass of scotch to his mouth and took a sip in order to prevent himself from saying anything more.

"It was a different something, that's for sure." Mick muttered thoughtfully. Josef lost his patience. Flashing around the desk, he took Mick's face in his hands, and kissed him again.

If Josef had thought the earlier kisses were good, he was seriously underestimating Mick's capabilities. There was little resistance as his lips were parted by Josef's tongue, and quickly it descended into something more. He pushed Mick roughly backward, sending him, and the chair, crashing to the floor in a tangle of limbs.

For a fleeting moment Mick thought of Beth, and realised that the taste of Josef lips was not only better, but also felt right. He knew that he didn't have to hold himself back anymore, and that in itself felt better than anything he'd had with Beth. What he was doing now, with Josef, felt like coming home. Like he'd been away for so long he didn't even realise it _was_ home until he got there. He paused for a second, his lips finding their way toward Josef's ear.

"This is a good something." He whispered, smiling slightly for the first time in what felt like an age. He was answered with a growl of desire; a low feral growl that only made Mick want him more. Wherever Josef's hands went, his skin felt like it was burning. He pulled him down further until Josef was pressed against Mick's heated body. They moved together for a moment lost in one another's touch, aware of nothing else.

There was a timid knock on the door, and they flew guiltily apart. As Mick struggled to right the fallen furniture, Josef redressed himself and absently tried to recall how he had become _undressed_ as he headed slowly toward his office door, fully prepared to rip the head off whoever stood on the other side of it. Wrenching it open, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Beth."


	4. Chapter 4

"Something I can do for you?" It was difficult to remain composed in front of her; he assumed that Mick had not spoken fully to her about everything that had been going on between them. Not that there had been time or ample opportunity. He wasn't about to fill her in. With a swift look behind himself to check that Mick had reset the room, and tentatively opened to door to let her in.

Beth baulked at the sight of Mick, who was now slumped in the chair with his head in his hands. Josef thought it was a nice touch. She looked like she was about to walk away but changed her mind, her face set and her jaw squared.

"I just wanted to speak to you for a minute. Outside?" She gestured into the corridor behind her. Josef glanced back at Mick once more, and spotted the almost imperceptible nod.

"Sure." He answered, and stepped out of the office. They headed down in the elevator in complete silence. When Beth had said outside, she'd meant that literally. Mick could see their silhouettes as they headed out into the night.

"There's something that you need to take a look at." She said, rounding on him as soon as they were out of earshot. Her tone was complete business. "You can deal with it however you see fit." She pulled an envelope out from her bag, and handed it to him.

"What is this? A present?" His tone was that of a mildly bemused teenager, but she had his full attention. He turned the envelope over in his hands and sniffed. "This is a vampire scent." He continued sharply.

"It was delivered to me at BuzzWire this afternoon. I was going to give it to Mick but, well, I'm assuming he's told you already." A small shrug of the shoulders attempted nonchalance, but failed. Josef noticed, though his eyes remained on the envelope. Slowly, he opened it.

Inside there were nine 5x7 photographs, in black and white. The first was a picture of Coraline Duvall as she crossed a street. From the way it had been taken, it was clear that she did not know she was being followed or watched. Two more showed her meeting friends in a restaurant, and buying clothes in a store. They were professionally shot. On the third print, her face had been crudely scratched out, and a red cross scribbled across it.

The next set of three were of Josh. Once at the courthouse, once outside his apartment, and once sitting in the park on the same bench he would wait for Beth before they went to lunch together. In the final picture again, his face had been scratched out and replaced with a red cross.

"What the…" Josef frowned. Both Coraline and Josh were dead now, he knew. But he had never thought that the deaths were connected. The circumstances surrounding their demises did not once echo the other. However, that did not necessarily mean it wasn't being ordered by the same person. Tentatively, he turned to the third and final set of pictures.

They were of Sarah. Somehow, deep within him, he had known that her face would appear in the pictures, but now that they were here in his hands, he could barely stand. Beth caught him as his legs buckled, and lowered him awkwardly to the ground. He scanned the pictures again. The first showed the outside of the apartment she currently resided within, the second featured the corridor in which her room was situated, and the third was close-up of her face, peaceful and porcelain as she continued her suspended slumber. She was not yet scratched out, but the red cross was already in place.

"You need to call someone, find out if she's OK." Beth's tone held the sympathy of someone who understood another's pain. She patted Josef lightly on the back, both to reassure him somewhat and to bring him back to the matter at hand. Risking a quick look up at the offices in front of them, she wondered if Mick could see what was going on. If he had, he would arrive at any moment.

Josef now had his phone out of his pocket, and hastily dialled, his feet tapping nervously on the concrete of the sidewalk.

"Harriet, Harriet, listen to me. I need you to go into her room, and check on her. Now." He waited impatiently as she did as she was told, silently willing her to return. He breathed a sigh of relief when she did, and tried his best to sound calm. "Look, has there been anyone unusual hanging around lately, anyone asking too many questions?"

Mick finally arrived from out of the darkness, and he threw a questioning look toward Beth. She quickly handed him the photographs, and watched as he paled in the face of what they were dealing with. His eyes flitted to Josef, who was still deep in conversation with Harriet on the other end of the phone. She watched as something passed over his features, but couldn't quite identify it's origin. He seemed to be more wary of Josef's feelings than shocked at the pictures of Coraline. They turned as Josef began to shout orders into the phone.

"Lock the place down. Tell everyone to leave, and do not open the door to anyone until I arrive. And don't even think about leaving her alone for one second." He hung up without waiting for a reply, a newfound purpose in his eyes. Both Beth and Mick watched him warily, half-expecting orders of their own that he wanted them to carry out. Josef bent his head and rubbed small circles into his temples as he thought about his next move.

"What do you need?" Beth finally asked him. Mick peered at her from the corner of his eyes, and watched her wipe a single tear from her cheek. His heart went out to her as much as it did Josef; and for a second he was stood at the roadside once more, helpless as Josh bled slowly to death. He could hear her begging for him to be turned, and the sounds echoed around the inside of his mind. She was reliving those final moments again, in a way, painfully reminded of what she had lost by the pictures that displayed the last few days of his life.

"I need…" Josef shuddered heavily as he tried to find the words. "I need you to go home, Beth, and see if there are any packages or more envelopes waiting for you. Mick and I will do the same. After that, I'm packing a few things and heading straight to LA on the next flight. Mick, I want you to come with me. There are some people I'd like you to meet and matters that we have to attend to. Beth, if you could wait at BuzzWire in the morning, someone will get hold of you there."

"Of course." She nodded in assent, gave him a quick hug, and left, hailing a cab as she walked. Mick and Josef stood in silence until Beth's fading silhouette receded into the distance, shocked at the complete sense of trust she placed in the two of them. Josef coughed, dragging Mick back to reality.

"Did you hear me? We're heading to your place, then to mine, then we're leaving. Isn't it weird that I suggested we do that earlier?" He mused, wandering back toward his office building, intending to grab his jacket and a few essentials before driving to their respective apartments. Mick shook his head slowly as he followed a couple of steps behind.

"I'm not sure I understand what's going on here. Did Coraline and Josh have a price placed on their heads? I had no idea their deaths might have been connected."

"Neither did I." Josef muttered, stabbing a finger against the button of the elevator. "And we don't know that they are yet."

"This could be someone's idea of a sick joke." Mick suggested, somewhat hopefully.

"Someone's idea of a stupid joke."

"Definitely. I suppose we're going to find them anyway?" The elevator dinged as they reached their floor, and Mick held Josef back for a second, frowning as he sniffed the air suspiciously. "Smell that?"

"That," Josef replied, "Is the same scent as what's on these photographs. Stay here." He started off down the corridor toward his office, hunched low, hunting stance.

"Like hell." Mick whispered, closing the gap between himself and his friend. "There might be more than one of them."

"Yeah, sorry. I know you can look after yourself." They both chuckled humourlessly.

The pair took up their positions either side of Josef's hardwood door, like police officers preparing to storm a building. Mick tentatively made a grab for the handle, almost expecting it to be blindingly hot. With a quick twist of his wrist the door was open, and the two vampires flashed about the room, fangs bared, prepared for a fight. But the room was empty. Everything was exactly as it had been left; Josef's jacket hung over the back of his chair, blue striped tie hanging slack out of the left side pocket. The screen of his computer remained switched off, and the files continued to lie neatly piled in the corner of the desk.

Still, the entire room reeked of an unfamiliar vampire. This was the most unsettling thing about the whole situation. Whilst Josef, Mick and Beth had been standing outside, a stranger had been hanging around in his office. The motive was not clear; there was nothing stolen, no messages sent, no photographs left. Whoever it was, they were trying to spook Josef in particular, by breaking and entering whilst he was standing just outside the building. And he would not have it. When he turned to Mick, his face was twisted into a mask of fury. He snatched up his jacket.

"Come on. We need to check your apartment, call in on Beth just in case, and get on the next flight out of here."


	5. Chapter 5

Mick drummed his fingers impatiently on the arm rest of his uncomfortably warm seat. Even on such short notice, Josef had managed to secure them first class tickets, but he had always hated flying in what were essentially rocket propelled tin cans. Airplanes might be dressed up nice and pretty on the inside, and he knew the statistics of being killed in an aircraft where slim, but it didn't him getting anxious the moment those wheels lifted up from the ground. He had always believed that if God had intended human beings to fly, he would have given them wings. Then again, he wasn't a human being anymore, and he had seen far too many places in which God was not present. There was a thin film of sweat beginning to form on the palms of his hands, and he unconsciously wiped them on his trouser leg. With a quick glance at his watch, Mick deduced that there was at least another forty-five minutes worth of flying time remaining.

Josef, on the other hand, was having the time of his life, considering. He constantly beckoned the stewardesses over to him, whispering short commands in their ears as they bent toward him. Now he was lying back with his seat flat, catching up on his sleep. Upon his request, he had been given a pillow, a blanket and an eye mask to protect from the 'harsh lights'. Mick was sorely tempted to wake him; if he wasn't asleep, then Josef shouldn't be either.

After leaving the office the two of them had headed straight for Beth's apartment on the east side of city. It was closer and they had agreed that she was in the most danger if a vampire came looking for her. Having called ahead, she was expecting them, and had opened the door to let them inside before they'd even had chance to knock. There was the same unfamiliar scent in her living room, bedroom and kitchen, but no extra envelopes left for her, and after half an hour, Mick and Josef left, promising once more to get in contact with her the next day through BuzzWire.

Mick's apartment was also clear, except from the vampire scent, as was Josef's. The two of them were so attuned to it by this point that they could probably pick that person out of a crowd, and were careful to remember the way in lingered in the fabrics, like a particularly difficult stench. It felt unclean to be around. They were no closer to discovering why Beth had been given the envelope with the photographs inside, or why they were being targeted at all. For a change, Josef could not think of anyone powerful that he had scorned. It seemed to be random, but Josef did not believe in coincidences like this, and neither did Mick.

"These were not the circumstances I expected to be leaving town under." Josef drawled sleepily from beneath his blanket. Without Mick noticing, the eye mask had been removed, and he now realised that Josef was watching him with one brown eye open, the other firmly closed.

"And what were you expecting, exactly?" Mick volleyed, unable to keep the sarcasm from his tone. He was given a nonchalant shrug as a reply.

"I don't know, I thought we could drive off romantically into the sunset for unknown destinations or something." The theatrical tone returned with a grand sweep of Josef's arm.

"Really?"

"No," He snorted, "But I didn't think we'd be going to see Sarah like this." As he spoke, his voice became smaller, until Mick struggled to hear him properly. "I'm not sure I'm ready to face her again."

"It'll be fine," Mick promised with as much sincerity as he could muster. "You'll see that she's OK, we can go back home, and we'll find the asshole that thinks its funny to mess with us." Josef raised his head off of his pillow, eyebrow arched.

"That was a very threatening tone." He chided.

"Shut up, Josef."

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	6. Chapter 6

The apartment in which Sarah Whitley resided was unremarkable in every sense of the word. Josef had done this on purpose; it allowed for people to come and go without drawing attention from civilians because it was extravagant or large. Instead of the beautiful building that he would have preferred, and that he believed Sarah deserved, Josef had bought a modest two-bedroom house in the middle of a neighbourhood that was polite, but not overly friendly. Every fifteen years or so he liked to sell the house and move her to another city, because he was careful like that. He didn't want people asking any questions.

Mick empathised with Josef; whilst they hadn't known one another at the time he had met Sarah, they had become friends by the time he tried to turn her. Coraline had met the human girl once or twice - she had been very good at making friends, and she certainly knew how to work a room. At the time of course, Mick had had no idea that both Coraline and Josef were vampires, but Sarah knew. And Sarah wanted that life, to have forever with Josef. Being in love with her, he had given her what she desired, even though he'd harboured doubts. They wanted to spend eternity with one another. Mick wished sometimes that he loved Coraline half as much, but she had tricked him and he never had fully gotten over it.

After the incident, Josef lost himself for a while, and only Coraline could talk any kind of sense into him. He would pass the days in a haze of drinking and partying, and on several occasions a call to the Cleaners was required, but Coraline was always there with him, to make sure he didn't do something stupid or dangerous. Mick still felt bad that he wasn't as helpful as he should have been, but he had been newly turned and couldn't control himself, let alone a vampire that was four centuries old.

Those days were something neither man liked to talk about. It wasn't that Josef wanted to forget what had happened to Sarah, it was simply that he couldn't deal with it. If there was one thing Josef hated it was weakness, especially in himself. And Sarah made him weak, confused. Mick had gone with him to visit only twice, and in that time he had never seen Josef as lost for words, or look so small.

As they headed up the street, Josef did a careful sweep of the people that were around. He had a perfect memory, and made a mental note of every face he did not recognise. Initially, there was nobody in particular that stood out, but as far as he was concerned, everyone was a suspect. Wordlessly, Josef knocked twice on the window pane of the door, and stood back to wait. Within seconds, the door was open, and the pair were being ushered inside by a very frazzled looking Harriet.

"What are you answering the door for?" Josef snapped. "I could have been anyone, and you'd be lying on the floor with your head on backwards right now." He pushed past her into hallway before she even had a chance to respond. Mick followed behind, offering his quick apologies for Josef's rudeness. Harriet waved them away with half a smile; she knew how temperamental her employer could be. He was only worried.

"Mr. Kostan, I saw you walking up the street. No-one has been here since I sent everyone away. Just Sarah and I." She told him as she too followed him down the corridor.

"So you say nobody suspicious has been around?" Mick asked, turning his back on Josef to give him some privacy. He took Harriet by the arm and led her into the kitchen so they could talk.

"No, everything has been normal. What is this about, anyway? We were worried when he called, he sounded very upset." He was touched to see that concern was etched on the older woman's face. Harriet may have looked innocent, with her thin silvery hair pinned carefully on the back of her head, but Mick knew that she was aware of what they were. She was paid enough to keep their secret. Josef had kept her in his employ for over twenty years; she proved herself to be trustworthy, and as such had gained his respect. Mick knew that he could tell her what was going on and it would go no further. Her pale green eyes held more than just secrets.

"Someone threatened Sarah." He replied, slowly, unsure how much he should leave for Josef to explain himself. "We're not sure who it is yet, but we're going to find out."

"That is why he is here? To make sure she is okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just going to check the place over; we've been catching the same scent all over the place." Harriet nodded, and proceeded to lead him upstairs. They looked in on Josef as they passed Sarah's room - he sat at her bedside holding her hand against his forehead, talking so quietly that even Mick's highly sensitive hearing could not pick up the words. Clearly he did not want to be disturbed.

Harriet was the only person who lived in the house with Sarah, and over the years she had made it her own. The last time Josef had moved her location, Harriet had gone with them. There wasn't much in the way of personal belongings; she had no husband or children to speak of. A sister lived in Texas somewhere, but they had fallen out of contact years ago. The furniture was minimalist, and tasteful, and it gave nothing away about its inhabitants. Harriet had been doing this job for a long time.

A quick scan of the upper floor told Mick that the rogue vampire had not been in these rooms. Harriet herself had been crossed off of the suspect list; she was human, and smelt of lavender. It was comforting rather than harsh, like the stranger's. They headed back down to the ground floor, creating noise so that Josef would not be startled by their return.

However, Josef appeared not to have heard them; he continued to sit at Sarah's bedside, holding her hand, eyes shut. Sarah's chestnut curls billowed out across the pillow behind her head, and for obvious reasons, she looked much the same as she did last time Mick had been here with Josef. Her eyes remained closed, and she looked as if she were merely sleeping, like she could wake up at any moment. Mick wondered how many times Josef had hoped for that to happen. But, after sixty years, Sarah was still entrapped in this infinite slumber, not yet dead, but not truly alive, either. Her nails were manicured and carefully painted a deep fuchsia; they were both her favourite flower and her favourite colour, he could remember Coraline telling him so once. Josef certainly made sure she was cared for, out of respect for her memory, but Mick also supposed his friend was attempting to make up for the tragedy. He noticed that Josef was breathing deeply, inhaling her scent. When he did the same, he could taste the unnatural tang in the air. The rogue vampire had been here. Harriet noticed as much in Mick's face.

"They have been in here?" She asked, her voice rising an octave as she spoke.

"Yes." Josef hissed before Mick could answer her politely. "And the question remains; what were you doing, Harriet, while a dangerous, murdering vampire was walking around and taking pictures of your charge?" He finally turned to look at her then, his dark brown eyes flashing as they revealed the hot, bubbling anger that was simmering just beneath the surface of Josef's composure. Deathly quiet, he continued. "What, exactly, am I paying you for, if you cannot do the one thing in your job description and keep her safe?"

"Mr. Kostan, I have no excuses. I can only promise that it will not happen again," Harriet began. After two decades in his service, she reckoned she knew how to placate him. "I have been working for you for years now, and nothing like this has

ever happened before. How can I fix something I did not know was wrong?"

Josef flew across the room in an instant, shoving the older woman against the door. His eyes had shifted into the ghostly grey they turned when vampires revealed their true, monstrous nature, and his fangs were bared, hovering less than an inch away from the base of the small woman's throat. She did not cry out, nor did she try to get away; resistance was futile when the predator was an enraged vampire. Mick moved to pull Josef back, but the look he received was less than welcoming. This was Josef's problem, and it was not Mick's place to get involved.

"You're lucky that she's still alive, Harriet." Josef whispered. "Because you certainly wouldn't be right now if she weren't."

"I know," She gasped, "I am so sorry Mr. Kostan. Please, just let me go." Josef held her there for a moment, just to point out that he could, before settling her roughly back on her feet. Grabbing his jacket from the chair beside Sarah's bed, he kissed her tenderly on the temple before striding quickly out of the room. Mick allowed him to walk away, and he stood silent until the front door slammed.

Harriet was still leaning against the wall of Sarah's room, fingers gently probing the flesh of her neck in an attempt to stop the bruises from forming. Mick knew what she was not badly hurt, but he felt bad for her all the same. He imagined that at times, this place would drive her insane; the same four walls, day in, day out, with no-one to talk to. But Harriet was a strong woman, and good at her job.

"Put some ice on it." He told her, gesturing to her throat. "It'll help with the swelling." She nodded, and moved on into the kitchen.

"I know he is just upset." She muttered, rummaging around in the freezer. "He did not mean to hurt me." Mick could not agree with her; he had seen Josef kill many people for less than Sarah. He leant casually against the doorframe as Harriet sat herself heavily in one of the dining room chairs.

"You're lucky that he trusts you. Once I leave, don't let anyone in until Josef calls again. I'm going to assume that you'll be seeing some new faces around here. But if you know anything -" Mick looked imploringly into Harriet's moss green eyes, searching for the slightest hint of deception. He found none. "- please call me."

"I will, Mr St. John. Thank you."

Mick headed back into the hallway, and grabbed the door handle before turning back to the older woman.

"Lock the door as soon as I leave. I'll make sure Josef calls you. He won't be angry forever."

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	7. Chapter 7

He left to follow Josef back out onto the street. He was waiting only thirty metres down the road, stubbornly leaning up against their black rented saloon car, sunglasses the single form of protection from the searing midday heat. His only acknowledgment that Mick existed was a brief, blank gaze from the mirrored glasses before he swung the door open and dropped heavily into passenger seat, arms folded expectantly. Mick began to speak, but Josef cut him off.

"I don't want to talk. Let's just go back to the hotel, and I'll fill you in on these meetings for tomorrow."

He kept his eyes facing forward, on the road, and Mick used those seconds to cast a wary glance over his friend. Suddenly Josef seemed to look older, with light purple rings beneath the chocolate of his eyes. What remained of the colour in his face had disappeared, and now his skin had a sickly pallor to it. Josef was clearly distracted; he absently chewed on his bottom lip when he was both concerned and mulling over a problem in his head. Mick wondered how much he still loved Sarah, even after all this time, and whether he had ever considered simply letting her go. But there was no easy way to bring up those subjects, especially right now. Instead Mick tried to decide what he would do if he'd ever tried to turn Beth and it had gone horribly wrong, but it was no use. He didn't love Beth the way Josef loved Sarah.

"Do we need to pick anything up on the way?" Mick ventured, referring to the blood they would require in the morning. Generally hotels did not stock bags of O-, nor did they have freezers in the rooms that were big enough to fit a fully grown man inside. But Josef shook his head.

"Everything is already sorted for us."

"Okay. And when are you going to hire some new staff?" Mick risked another glance in Josef's direction as they pulled up to some traffic lights. He wasn't expecting an answer, considering the fact that Josef had said he didn't want to talk, but he did get an odd look.

"How did you know I was going to have to hire new staff?" He countered, brow puckered in polite interest, as if he was searching a fellow poker player for his tell. Mick shrugged.

"I just assumed that was what you were going to do. Didn't you fire all of your staff?"

"Yes." Josef conceded. "I didn't realise I was so predictable. It's worrisome." Suddenly he was back to frowning, chewing on his bottom lip once more. Mick said nothing as he pulled away from the lights, and they continued to drive in silence. Only once they were parked did he bother to speak again. He adopted a soothing tone.

"You have nothing to worry about. I just know you, Josef. You're not at all predictable." He grinned mischievously. "I didn't see that kiss coming, that's for sure."

Josef smiled a little at the thought, but it disappeared as quickly as it arrived.

"I could tell." He muttered amiably.

"Next time I won't be."

"Next time? I'm definitely predictable."

He shifted his weight in his seat so that he was turned to face Mick, with his back to the door, and in a second Josef was bridging the gap, pressing his lips to Mick's in an almost frantic movement. Without hesitation their lips parted, tongues meeting in a flurry of sword-like gestures; one attacking and one on the defence.

For a moment Mick forgot where he was, that they were sitting in a car park like two teenagers. The scent of Josef, something he'd never really seemed to notice before, was overpowering in the confines of the vehicle, and he grappled behind himself for the door handle in an attempt at getting some fresh air, but to no avail. An involuntary moan escaped from his mouth as Josef's hands began to work their way beneath his jacket.

"Can we at least check in first?" He gasped, begging Josef to let him go for one second. Even though it was not technically necessary for him to breathe, Mick found his lungs shouting for air. This was a new concept for him. Grudgingly, Josef nodded.

"Fine."

And then he was gone, out of the car, walking away without another word. Mick marvelled at the way his companion was so certain he would be followed. He stopped for a second, to right himself, and considered what it was they were actually doing. He thought he loved Beth, and he thought Josef was straight. Hell, he thought _he _was straight. He'd thought a lot of things. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe the best thing to do would be to just go with it, enjoy himself. Eternity was a long time.


	8. Chapter 8

For what seemed like the first time in an age, Josef was excited. It was primal, a sense of anticipation that began at the bottom of his gut and worked its way upward, until it sat in the base of his throat waiting impatiently for something to happen. He was on the brink of backing out, telling Mick that this was a mistake, that he was only looking for comfort, but he knew that he wouldn't. Josef Kostan never backed out of any situation. These moments had been what he wanted, what he'd been waiting for for almost ten years of his existence. There was no chance he was going to back down now.

It had been a bold move, walking away and not looking backward in the car park, but he was sure it would pay off. Any minute now, Mick would be knocking on the door, prepared. He flashed around the room, uselessly plumping cushions and readjusting pillows with a nervous twitch. A second waiting for Mick seemed like a lifetime; it always had. The thought that Mick himself might back out crossed Josef's mind, but he quickly pushed it aside. Mick was loyal; he didn't abandon anything half-finished. They were similar in that respect, and many others.

A brisk knock on the door would have pushed Josef's heart into his mouth, had he still possessed one, and he rushed to open it, picturing Mick on the other side restlessly waiting. He tried to keep his composure, but it was difficult, and when he saw the look on Mick's face, he lost it. Yanking him inside the room by his shirt, Josef pressed his lips to Mick's once more in an attempt to convey his desires with that one movement. The pair picked up from where they had left off in the car, fumbling to remove one another's clothes. They didn't make it to the bed, instead sinking to the floor in the middle of the room and enjoying one another's bodies there.

Josef had never felt such passion. He knew that vampires liked to experiment, the older they got, but in some ways, he had never expected to feel so comfortable doing it. The movement of Mick's hips beneath his body sent sparks across his vision, and he relished the sensation of Mick's hands as they wound their way tentatively across Josef's chest and down his back. He growled softly, sliding to remove what remained of their clothes, and Mick let him. It was everything Josef expected it to be, but more. He reached around to grab Mick's erection, and began to stroke it, fingers deftly encircling the shaft. As he drew closer to orgasm, Mick performed the same motion on Josef's penis, and they climaxed at the same time in a fit of feral moans and gasps. It had not taken long, but it was not a moment Josef was going to forget.

They lay together on the floor of their room for a while, revelling in the afterglow. Josef absently traced swirls across Mick's chest as he dozed, the sound of his heavy breathing somewhat comforting in the silence. He knew they would have to move eventually, but he didn't have the inclination to do so just yet. It was much easier to think clearly without Mick awake to distract him with his insightful notions and questions.

Tomorrow they would go to meet with Lance Duval; this was the first person Josef had thought to be responsible for the photographs. While most what not consider him simply because they thought it unlikely he would want to kill his own sister, Josef knew better. The real question was why. Why would anyone bother to put a price on the heads of Coraline, Josh and his beloved Sarah? They themselves had done nothing to harm anyone. Well, Coraline may have, but Josh and Sarah were innocents. If anyone knew something about anything, it was Lance. And only time would tell if he was willing to disclose whatever information the ancient vampire had.

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	9. Chapter 9

The meeting place was one of Lance's choosing, naturally. Josef supposed he was lucky to be granted an appointment with the man at all. He gave Mick's shoulder a reassuring squeeze as they pulled up to the abandoned warehouse. It was a tall miserably grey steel building, with high windows that separated the ceiling from the walls but did very little in the way of shedding any light on the room below.

"Very menacing," Josef muttered darkly as Mick chuckled in his ear. They cast a wary glance behind themselves. "No rabid dogs though."

"He's losing his touch." Mick quipped, gesturing for Josef to lead the way.

To gain entry into the warehouse the pair had to circle the building in search of some kind of door. Curiously, there did not seem to be such a thing. Two large rusting sliding gates adorned the front wall, but these had been padlocked shut. It seemed unlikely that Lance or any of his subordinates were waiting on the other side; the door had obviously not shifted from its moorings for years. They ran around it once more in silence in case there was something they had missed, but to no avail. Mick finally said what they were both thinking.

"He's not coming."

"Maybe." Josef was not as quick to admit that he had been fooled. In the distance he heard the sound of an approaching car. "Maybe not. Just listen."

Within a minute, a sleek stretch limousine pulled up next to Mick and Josef's car, the window at the back already sliding down to reveal an older vampire staring up at them. It was not Lance, and in some ways Josef expected as much; clearly he was being more careful these days.

"Good afternoon, Tobias." Josef called cheerfully as they made their way toward the limo. "I see our friend Lance is as paranoid as he ever was."

The sombre looking vampire merely nodded curtly and backed away from the door, allowing them to get in beside him. Mick had never formally met this vampire before, and took this time to stay quiet as Josef and Tobias reacquainted themselves. He was a very tall and slim looking man, with a shock of platinum blond hair falling just above his misty grey eyes. There were the beginnings of middle age settling around the edges of his mouth, a couple of creases in his forehead, and Mick reckoned the man had been turned when he was around forty-five years old. Considered by many to be in the prime of his life, Tobias could clearly handle himself, and had done so for some time now as Lance's right hand.

For a second he thought of Beth, and wondered what she was doing right now. They had called her that morning as promised, but he had not spoken to her himself. He thought it would have been too difficult. There had been no new photographs overnight, and there was little for her to do at her end but wait. Wait for Josef to call again with an update, wait for Mick to apologise to her, wait for the rogue to make his move. He knew it was safer for her that way, no matter how unglamorous.

Mick found it interesting that Josef appeared to be friends with the surly vampire, though he didn't find it surprising. When someone existed for over four hundred years, they met a lot of people. But there was nothing remotely similar about the pair. Then again, the same thing could be said about his own relationship with Josef.

Is that what it was now? A relationship? Mick considered the notion, subconsciously muttering the word to himself a couple of times to get a feel of the semantics on his tongue.

"Did you have something to say?" The blond vampire was staring at Mick suspiciously, his silvery eyes narrowed.

"Uh, no. Just thinking aloud to myself." He shrugged. Tobias turned away once more, a look of superiority upon his middle-aged features as he continued his business conversation. Josef continued to give Mick the once over for few seconds longer. Perhaps he had heard what Mick had been muttering.

"… I don't think this has anything to do with the Mortal Cure." Tobias was saying, with confidence. "But, you can take that up with Lance. As you say, Josef, if anyone knows, it will be him."

"And there have been no threats against Lance himself?" Mick questioned, earning himself another cold stare from the unfamiliar vampire. "What? I thought maybe we weren't the only ones being targeted."

"That is an interesting point," Josef mused, tenting his fingers against his lips. "The answer, Tobias?"

"No, nothing. I would know if there were any threats against him."

"As well you should." Mick snorted, gazing at the passing scenery as the limousine turned a tight corner onto a deserted country road. There was not much he could see, considering the tinted windows, but Mick stared all the same. He was however, grateful for the shade; the sun had been steadily climbing the sky, and it now hovered, inconveniently radiating heat.

"I'm sure you do." Josef placated quickly. He turned to follow Mick's gaze out of the window, frowning a little. "Where are you taking us anyway?"

"Do not worry, friends, we will be arriving momentarily." Tobias smiled at the pair, in what Mick was sure was intended to be a reassuring manner. It was anything but. He felt like something wasn't right, and by the looks of things, Josef was thinking the same. They shared a glance, Josef giving a barely perceptible nod. If Tobias made a move, they would be ready.

However, a double cross from the platinum vampire became increasingly unlikely the further into the countryside they drove. There were, after all, two of them and one of him. Unless you counted the driver, but he would have had to move around the car at lightening speed even by vampire standards to subdue them before they finished Tobias. Effectively he was outnumbered.

And then finally they were slowing down, coming to a stop outside a ornate country house. Miles from everything, this was the perfect place to lie low. Josef could not help but wonder what exactly Lance was hiding from. He heard Mick breathe a sigh of relief as a figure came into view, standing with open arms on the porch, shaded perfectly from the sunlight. The man wore large sunglasses, but Josef and Mick both knew about the disfigurement that they hid. As they stepped out of the limousine, Lance moved forward, into the sun.

"Welcome boys, to my temporary yet no less humble abode."


	10. Chapter 10

"What's with the games, Lance?" Josef asked once the four men were all seated comfortably in the dining room. Lance himself, dressed in an expensive looking charcoal grey suit, complete with blood red tie, was sitting at the head of a large oak table. At the facing end sat Josef, with Tobias and Mick either side. He found the chair to be surprisingly comfortable; though the high backs looked imposing, they were lined with a soft velvet. He had not been given the chance to talk to Mick about their plans, but for the moment he was keeping quiet, and Josef hoped to keep it that way. At least he had had dealings with Lance before - the last time Mick had encountered the eldest Duvall, Coraline had gone up in flames.

"What games?" Lance purred, his face twisting into some form of smile. Tobias joined him; they looked like Frankenstein and his monster, both privy to some inside joke. The image was almost enough to make Josef laugh out loud. Instead he kept his composure, adopting the same aloof tone he always did when he had to make a big business deal for his work.

"Well, why not just give us this address? It would have saved us the time we spent hanging around that disgusting warehouse."

Lance gestured to the room they were currently sitting in. It was styled with old fashioned looking furnishings, and there was a lot of polished wood around, but Josef could tell by the smell that most of it was newly bought. The paintings that lined the walls, however, appeared to be genuinely old, and they were probably original. He wondered if they were from Lance's personal collection or whether they came with the building.

"I couldn't let you know about this place! Its beautiful, and if you knew where it was, you might try and take it from me." Chuckling, he took off the mirrored sunglasses, revealing his ruined eye. "Now, what can I do for you people today? I can tell you, Josef, I was surprised to hear from you two."

As Josef slid the envelope across the table, Mick came to life.

"Why?" He stared at Lance like they were the only two people in the room.

"Why what?" Lance inquired, his face fixed into an expression of odd politeness.

"Why would you be surprised to hear from us?"

"Last time we saw each other, your ex wife was reduced to a pile of ashes. I figured that would be enough to soil our friendship. And since then I've been trying to stay off of the grid, so there hasn't been much that you need me for." He picked up the envelope, studying it curiously. "What are these?"

"Photographs," answered Tobias quietly. "They were sent to the human girl, Beth. She then gave them to Josef, who in turn is giving them to you." The others nodded slowly as Lance glanced over the pictures, his eyebrows edging closer and closer to the top of his head.

Mick was beginning to feel antsy. He didn't trust Lance as far as he could throw him, especially after Coraline. The ancient vampire was ruthless, and stronger than both he and Josef. If Lance wanted them killed, it could be done here, and no-one would know. The thought was unsettling, and as Lance perused the pictures Mick scanned the room looking for some kind of emergency exit. He knew that Josef was watching him, but there wasn't a lot either of them could do right now. Either Lance would help them, or he would not. Eventually, he began to speak.

"These have nothing to do with me, I want you to understand that. This scent isn't something I've come across before, either. I find it interesting that Coraline is in here; I killed her myself, and I certainly was not coerced by anyone. The young man -" He pointed to a picture of Josh. "- I do not even know who this is. And the same goes for the young woman. Remind me again why you think I can help with this?"

Josef swallowed, having gone a little paler than usual. He forgot about the fact that Lance wouldn't know who Sarah or Josh were. This was, in some respects, good news, because it ruled him out as a suspect. It just meant that the list now had no names on it.

"That man is Josh Lindsey, boyfriend of Beth's. He was human, recently killed by what we thought was a gang hit as a result of a case he was working on in the DA's office. The woman's name is Sarah Whitley. She is an old flame of mine, someone I care very much about. She is not yet dead, and I want this bastard caught before he gets anywhere near her."

For some reason, Mick wanted to get up out of his seat and comfort Josef, who was now taking deep breaths. He knew it must be difficult for him, talking about Sarah with an almost flippant tone. You didn't need vampire hearing to detect the pained undercurrent. Tobias spoke up once more, addressing Lance.

"We considered it may have been something to do with the Mortal Cure, but it does not make much sense." He admitted. "The thought crossed Mick's mind that perhaps you had also been targeted."

"I was thinking about the Mortal Cure again when I said it." Mick added. "It's the only thing that links the four of us. But seeing as you haven't had any photographs, that can't be the case. We came to you because you're powerful, and you've got a lot of connections in the vampire community. Perhaps there are people who you know that we don't." He found it increasingly difficult to remain humble toward the eldest Duvall.

"If this is nothing to do with you, Lance, maybe this person is trying to take credit for what you did. It is clear from these photographs that whoever's doing this has been planning something for a long time. Maybe it was just coincidence that you killed Coraline before they did." Josef seemed to have regained his voice, and now stared the ancient vampire down, his brown eyes staring into Lances mismatched features. There was a rumour that his black eye was dead, that he was blind in it, but Josef was not so sure. No one had ever gotten the best of Lance in a fist fight.

"That does make sense." Tobias conceded, his soft voice carrying across the room as easily as if he had shouted.

"But what does it mean?" Lance mused, crossing his hands together in front of himself on the table, as if the whole thing was an interesting little game.

"It means that Sarah is next, for one." Mick muttered, careful not to make eye contact with anyone. "We should operate on that basis for now."

"Agreed," said Josef, tersely. He turned to address Lance. "Is there any chance you would consider helping us find this guy?"

"Whatever would make you think I want to help you?" He laughed, Tobias joining in, softly chuckling in the background. Josef stared Lance down once more, waiting patiently for him to finish.

"Because you're dying." He replied simply.


	11. Chapter 11

The entire room fell silent, the atmosphere shifting within seconds from one of pleasant discussion to hostility. Mick stared wide eyed at Josef, his features a mess of confusion, shock and horror. While they had had no time to discuss a plan for when they entered the meeting with Lance, he was sure that threatening the man was not the best way to go. Mick didn't even know what exactly Josef was talking about.

"I ought to kill you where you sit." Lance growled. "Both of you." He was furious, Josef could tell, but he knew they were going to be fine. Tobias was glaring also, his hand twitching slightly as he geared himself up for a fight.

"But you won't." Josef smiled, like he was trying to please a client and close a deal. "I can help you, Lance."

"Josef…" Mick began, but his friend held up a steady hand. What did he know that Mick did not? He understood the three vampires had known each other for a long time, but this was ridiculous. He was being kept out of the loop.

"How did you know?" Lance spat, his rage gathering momentum. Still, Josef did not appear to look worried. If anything, the air of confidence surrounding him intensified. He shrugged nonchalantly, smile switching quickly to a smirk as he realised he was right. Mick wanted to slap him for risking so much.

"As soon as you took those sunglasses off, I suspected." He pointed to his own eye. "It's been twitching. That, combined with Tobias' defensiveness on the drive over here, no-one has come anywhere near you since our arrival, the fact you're hiding out in the middle of nowhere, paranoid, and your shaking hands, I knew it couldn't be anything else. Is poor Tobias here caring for you all by himself?"

A hiss went up from the left side of the room as Tobias shot up from his seat, chair clattering loudly to the floor. Josef paid no attention, staring only at Lance like he had just checkmated a particularly difficult chess opponent.

"You do not speak to him that way!" Shouted Tobias, baring his fangs.

"I can help you," Josef repeated, placing emphasis on each word as though it was precious.

"No-one can help me now, Josef Kostan." Lance muttered a little sadly. "You think I have not tried to save myself?"

"I think you don't know how." His voice was softer now, sympathetic. There was silence once more, broken only by Tobias picking up his chair and sitting himself back on it. Mick waited, holding an unnecessary breath in expectation of an answer from Lance. Not that he fully understood what was going on anyway. Josef remained cool; patience was a virtue, after all.

"What do you want from me?"

"Find out who is behind these photographs." He said, gesturing to himself. "I will provide you with the cure once the bastard is killed."

"He will die within four weeks if we do not find the cure." Tobias spat, clearly unimpressed with the deal thus far. Josef simply shrugged.

"You better be quick then."

"And how do we know you are not lying?" Tobias spoke again on behalf of his boss, who had grown considerably paler throughout the conversation. He was grimacing now, as though he was in pain.

"I can give you a small dose that will stave off some of the symptoms for a while, particularly those shakes. When you see it works, you can track the rogue down. When you track the rogue, I will kill him -"

"-We." Mick interrupted. "We will kill him."

"Yes," Josef continued tersely. "We will kill him. And when he's dead, I will give you the cure.

"What if I cannot find the vampire you are looking for?" Lance murmured, features creased with the consideration of Josef's proposal.

"Then you will die. It is that simple."

"Fine." Lance said, voice becoming stronger once more. He stood and held his hand out toward Josef. "We have a deal."

**Thanks for reading,**

**Please review,**

**Charlotte.**


	12. Chapter 12

"You need to tell me what just happened."

They were driving back from Lance's newly acquired estate, and Josef was waiting impatiently in the silence for Mick to speak up and say something about the meeting they had just shared. He hadn't expected his friend to keep up with what had been going on.

All in all Josef felt triumphant; they had gone into the meeting with reservations, the both of them unsure as to whether or not they were going to get what they came for. But luck had been shining on the pair, it seemed.

"Lance is going to find this rogue vampire for us." He said, with a small smile in his voice that he knew would irritate Mick.

"I made it that far. What I was to know is how. How on earth did you pull that off?"

Josef had been expecting that question. In many ways, Mick was frightfully predictable. He had been hoping, however, that he didn't get around to asking it until they had returned back to their hotel. He didn't want to answer when Mick was driving. Not because what he had to say would shock, but simply because Josef knew that Mick would have to think, when instead he should be concentrating on the road in front of them.

"Magic." He mumbled. "Sheer force of will." Mick rolled his eyes.

"Seriously. What is Lance sick with?" He kept glancing at his friend, and Josef wondered whether Mick believed he was going to tell the truth. He pushed the thought quickly from his mind; if there was one thing the two of them had, it was truth. There were no secrets between them - that Mick needed to know right now, at least. Josef's breath caught in his throat as Mick swerved to avoid a pedestrian attempting to cross the street.

"Jesus, can't this wait? You're going to kill someone." This was why Josef liked to drive around in a limousine where possible; the person you were talking to was not the person operating heavy machinery.

"No, you're not getting out of this." Mick replied, eyes now carefully trained on the road. "We're almost back, anyway."

"Well, then I'll tell you when we arrive." Josef grumbled, crossing his arms and sticking his bottom lip out like a sulky child. "I really can't deal with the added stress of your less-than-ideal driving ability while I try to explain."

"What are you talking about? I'm an excellent driver." As if to prove a point Mick pulled expertly into the underground garage of the hotel, and without braking, pulled smoothly into an empty space before cutting out the engine. "See? That, my friend, is an art."

"Marvellous." He said, not remotely impressed.

"So, tell me what's going on."

Josef took a deep breath and, stalling for time, stepped out of the car and headed toward the elevator in an eerily similar fashion as the day before. Once more, Mick followed, eager to have Lance's mystery solved. He was a firm believer in the idea that a problem shard was a problem halved, although this was only the case when said problems were not his. If Josef had an issue, Mick would almost expect to be told, but sometimes he was not as willing to divulge information about Beth. Josef could understand; he had spent many years alone between Coraline's first death and today.

"Lance is dying." Josef said, repeating what he had said earlier. "It's an ancient kind of virus that only seems to affect vampires. It is not avoidable, and seven out of ten vampires that come into contact with it die within two months." He paused, eyebrows raised, figuring that it would be easier to let Mick interrogate him, rather than trying to cover everything in one go.

"What do you mean it's not avoidable?" Mick asked as he unlocked the door to their room. He gestured quickly for Josef to go in ahead of him, and placed the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door before locking it once more from the inside.

"I mean that once you reach a certain age, usually about five hundred, sometimes a little earlier, the virus takes hold. I have not yet met a vampire that is older than that age who hasn't suffered the illness."

"How do you catch it?"

"It appears to be something to do with the vampire gene; we only call it a virus because it attacks and replicates within the cells. Almost like our immune system is attacking itself." Josef stood, and moved over to the mini bar to pour each of them a generous serving of blood-laced scotch. He took a sip, rolling the amber liquid around in his mouth for a moment, savouring the taste. When Mick said nothing, he looked up expectantly.

"Those symptoms Lance has," Mick began, "are they the only symptoms?"

"For now." Josef's voice had taken on a clinical tone. "Within the next couple of weeks the nosebleeds will begin, and then it will come from his ears, and finally his eyes, until he runs out of blood or his heart fails. Or both. It won't be quick and painless, that's for sure."

"But there's a cure. You said you had a cure."

"Ah, yes. I should have been clearer on that point. I have a cure for me, and not much more. I was kind of hoping he'd die before he found anything of use." Josef smiled thinly. "You never know, he might survive it."


	13. Chapter 13

Mick was stunned into silence. It was almost too much for him to process. Josef was hoping that Lance would die, but that wasn't what Mick was shocked about. If anything, he agreed; allowing this virus to get rid of Lance saved both time and effort, and involved considerably less risk. One more person they would not have to be wary of.

What had quietened Mick was the idea of the virus itself. Already Josef was four hundred years old, but a century wasn't much in the life of a vampire. Before they'd known it, Josef would have fallen ill too. Mick couldn't help but wonder if his friend had even considered telling anyone. He supposed that Josef would rather have dealt with things himself; irritatingly, it was something he had always done.

The fleeting thought of losing Josef sent his vision spinning. He was a constant, a pillar of quiet confidence that always had the answers for even the most difficult of questions in life. Mick had always thought that Beth meant a lot to him, but now he saw that she was little more than a junction in his eternal existence. With Beth, he would have to make a decision, and face pain whatever the outcome. She would either die sooner or she would die later. And either way, he would have been at fault. But Josef wasn't going anywhere. They had been inseparable since the day he had been turned.

"What's the cure?"

"It doesn't matter what it consists of." Josef answered. "The point is, it works."

"Why can't we just mix up a batch for Lance then?" Mick countered, unsure if he wanted the answer.

"Because it involves a highly intricate and precise process that I do not understand."

"Well who made it?"

Josef sighed. Explaining this to Mick was more difficult than he had anticipated. He could see the pain splintering through the blue of Mick's eyes, the emotion that was threatening to spill over at the thought of being left alone, without Josef. But this was not the intention. If the worst came to the worst, he would have to make good on his promise and give Lance the cure he possessed. He had a century to find another guy to recreate the cure. Best case scenario involved the death of the eldest and most powerful Duvall, and a solution to a problem that had not yet reared it's ugly head.

Either way, they were just going to have to wait and see what came with the days ahead. For now, Sarah was alive, and they were going to stay in the area until Josef was sure that she was safe. If that took a month, then it took a month. He would see to it that people were watching over Beth too. Whatever the situation with Mick, they were still friends, of some variety.

A thought flitted quickly across his mind, and he considered asking Mick where exactly everyone stood, but dismissed it. There was a time and a place for these types of conversation. Now was not such a moment.

"A human, named Jacques Claremont. No, I didn't think it necessary to turn him, it was too much of a risk. I killed him instead." He looked up to see Mick's incredulous face staring back at him. "What? It's not like I planned for this to happen."

"It's rare for you to be without a back-up plan."

The softness of Mick's words made his worry ring clear in Josef's ears.

"I'm not going anywhere." He promised sincerely as he crossed the room. "There must be another Claremont hanging around somewhere."

"But-" Any protest was cut off as Josef kissed Mick hard on the lips, intent on distracting him.

"Please." He whispered against Mick's mouth, inhaling their breath as it mingled together. "Don't worry about me."

Instead of putting up a fight, Mick let Josef trail slowly across this jaw line and move down his neck. He inhaled sharply as Josef pressed his fangs lightly against the place where his pulse would have been, if he'd had one. It was still a sensitive spot. At the same time, Josef's hands were working swiftly at the buttons of their trousers, intent on removing them as fast as possible. With shaking fingers, Mick gently pulled them away. When Josef looked up, he saw desire in his friend's eyes, but also something else. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"No," growled Mick. "Let me."

A wave of arousal flooded Josef at the thought of Mick finally taking control. For too long he had been making all of the first moves, initiating everything and allowing Mick to trail along somewhat blindly in his wake. He arced his back as Mick's palm rubbed against his growing erection and for a moment Josef couldn't imagine being with anyone else. He was answered by another growl from Mick, low and feral in his throat.

"Lie there." He ordered, pointing to the sofa. Josef made an obvious attempt at reining in a wry smile as he considered the appropriateness of the leather and the off-white colour. Not only was Mick sexy, he was practical too.

Josef did what he was told, happy not to be the one calling the shots for once. He fluffed a cushion up and placed it behind his head, before holding his arms out in the expectation of some kind of embrace. Mick had other ideas. He shifted his weight atop the other man's body and, like a pro, popped open all of the buttons on Josef's shirt, replacing them with tiny kisses as he skittered down the well toned muscles of his partner's torso.

Mick let his tongue wander, revelling in the taste of Josef's skin, the scent of it. He wondered if he was even doing any of it right, but decided that this part was much like pleasing a woman. You couldn't go straight for the sensitive areas. There had to be foreplay; some kind of build-up. He seductively pulled the front of Josef's boxers down, glancing up briefly to make sure everything was okay. Considering Josef's eyes were closed, he supposed everything was going well. As if hearing Mick's thoughts, Josef opened his mouth and uttered two words.

"Keep going." He was beginning to breathe a little more heavily in what Mick guessed was anticipation, and without giving it another thought he took the head of Josef's penis into his mouth and started to lick.

He began at the top, making sure the tip was covered in his saliva before attending to the shaft. A small but insistent voice in the back of his head told him to massage Josef's testicles as he moved, and he tentatively reached a hand up, squeezing gently. Above him there was a moan of approval, and he found that Josef's fingers were winding tightly into his hair, anchoring the two of them together.

As he took Josef's penis into his mouth once more, he used his free hand to pump the length of the shaft as he moved slowly up and down. For a moment, an image of Beth walking in on the two of them now was almost laughable. He couldn't keep from sniggering though, and he was almost choked as Josef thrust himself into Mick's mouth from the sensations the vibrating had created.

"Christ, Mick, don't stop." He breathed, hands tightening further around the back of Mick's head. As a test he started humming, and within seconds the room was filled with staccato gasps and louder moans as Josef drew closer to orgasm with each variation in Mick's pitch. He felt the muscles around Josef's penis tighten, and for a terrifying moment Mick was unsure whether to let go and finish with his hand or continue on and allow Josef to come in his mouth.

Josef appeared to make the decision for him, his body convulsing as the orgasm swept through his muscles. Mick's mouth was filled with the white sticky fluid, and there was more of it than he expected. As Josef settled back down, he stood and moved over to the sink to rinse his mouth. He figured that no offence would be taken the first time.

He lay down next to Josef on the sofa, shifting comfortably into the embrace waiting for him. As Mick closed his eyes, he felt Josef's lips pressed affectionately against his forehead.

"Thank you."

Mick took comfort in the fact the words were meant for more than the favour he had just performed. He sighed contentedly in response, happy to just fall asleep where they were. Tomorrow may never come, as the saying went, but it was another day they had together.


	14. Chapter 14

Beth knew that she was being kept out of the loop. She knew it, and she hated it. She frowned as she picked her way through the crowded street on her way to BuzzWire with the intention of finally clearing what remained of her things, eyebrows puckered in irritation both at herself and the two vampires she shared most of her life with. It had taken her far too long, getting around to shut the door on the journalism for good. Life was now heading toward civilian investigations with ADA Ben Talbot. And things were never boring.

Still, there was little to be done about it. Time and again she had told both Mick and Josef that she deserved to be aware of what was going on. But the vampires, being both male and exotic in nature, believed they knew better than she. That they knew _her _better than she knew herself. Of course they didn't, and yet they continued to trickle only pieces of the truth back to her.

And now they had run off at a moment's notice, rushed away to be at Sarah's bedside, leaving her, a somewhat defenceless human, alone where all manner of things could go wrong. Beth wasn't exactly sure how she felt about that, but she definitely felt something. It fell slightly short of jealousy, but it was more than irritation.

Not that she needed two vampires to look after her anyway. She was a grown woman, and she'd made it this far without them. Except that wasn't true, and Beth begrudgingly admitted to herself that she was missing Mick terribly, even if they weren't talking to one another. He had been there, in the background, hiding in the shadows for her entire life. She had thought, when he had finally stepped into the proverbial sunlight and revealed his identity, that she'd discovered what was already a lifelong companion. How wrong she was.

Instead of heading off into the horizon, the setting sun mapping out the road that lay ahead of them, Beth and Mick had been intermittently at one another's throats, always arguing about something the other had done wrong. And somewhere in all of that, they had believed they loved one another.

In the midst of her epiphany, Beth realised that being with Mick had never felt like the right thing to do. It had felt like the expected thing to do. As though it was the next step, a part of some bigger plan, when in reality it was unnecessary, and it had only caused pain. She no longer felt angry about the way Mick had broken things off between the two one them; he had, in effect, been saving them both from a darker fate.

As she dropped her bag into the chair next to her desk Beth paused, glancing over the partition at the workspace to the right. It had been empty for weeks; it's last occupant had been fired for getting a little too involved in her role as celebrity columnist. When the third restraining order had been filed, BuzzWire could no longer plead ignorance, and they'd had to take action. And since then the desk had been gathering dust. Until today.

Now, there was movement. The dust had been cleaned away, and in its place was a cardboard box filled with a stranger's belongings that was oddly parallel to the one that was situated on her own desk, holding her own things. For now, the owner of the other box was nowhere to be seen, and Beth presumed that he or she was talking in the office with the editor about their newest assignment. Whatever kind of assignment that was.

She resolved to wait, settling back in her chair and killing some time that she would have otherwise spent waiting for Mick to call with some half-truth news. It would also give her something to occupy her mind, which had been trained firmly on Mick and the threat that the pictures posed above the three of them. At least they were all in this together, each one with as much at stake as the other if it transpired that blackmail was on the cards. Well, except Josef. Josef had Sarah to lose. Beth and Mick had already lost the people they had truly loved.

The editor's door swung open and Beth craned her neck to get a look at whoever was inside, though she needn't have bothered. Emerging swiftly from behind the frosted glass came a man, early thirties with a confident smile and a strong handshake, she noticed, as he bid the boss goodbye. He turned and made his way across the floor, returning friendly greetings with a wave of his hand and an inclination of the head as he passed each desk. Already Beth could tell that he was well liked by everyone he knew. And she wanted to know his secrets. She felt a pang as she realised that she would probably never get to work with the man.

She was allowed a brief smile as the newcomer approached his desk, but he didn't offer a name with it. Beth decided that she wasn't going to offer hers, either. Instead, she sat back in her seat once more, rifling through her drawers while the stranger pottered around, rearranging photographs and pens.

This continued for ten minutes, and Beth was just about to give in and make conversation with the man when she spotted her chance. Glancing at the frown on his face, she poked her head over the partition, pointing at the top left hand drawer of the desk.

"You have to grab the handle and put some pressure on the top when you pull." She said helpfully. He inclined his head once more in her direction and she thought for a moment that was all she was going to get out of him. Not even a thank you.

"That's useful." He answered eventually, his voice carefully neutral. That intrigued her. "Know any other tricks?"

"A few, actually." Beth sidled around the partition to pick up the wireless computer mouse. "You have to recalibrate this every time you turn the monitor on, for some reason. And sometimes the phone doesn't quite connect at this end. But apart from that, you're usually fine." She smiled at him in apology, and extended her hand. "I'm Beth, by the way."

"David," he replied. "Just moved here from Chicago." He waved an elbow at the box on her desk as they shook hands. "You shipping out or moving in?"

As she'd expected, the handshake was firm but not overbearingly so. Every movement he made intrigued her all the more. She looked into his face once more, properly this time, committing his features to memory. This close, she could see that David had kind eyes; a warm chocolate brown which, combined with that set of perfect teeth, made his whole demeanour more appealing. She warned herself to not be taken in by the wealth of charisma he seemed to possess.

"Nice place, Chicago." Beth turned away again, as though whatever she had been writing previously was more important than the conversation now. "And I'm shipping out. BuzzWire just isn't the place for me anymore. What are you going to be doing here?"

"I'm a photographer." David picked up a camera and waved it under Beth's nose. She glanced at it and bent to heave the box underneath her arm so that is was balanced precariously on her hip.

"That's cool. It was nice meeting you." Beth replied as she turned to leave, even more saddened that she wasn't going to be able to work with David now that she had actually struck up conversation with him. He raised his hand in a gesture of goodbye as she walked down the hallway.

It was only one she began to wrestle with the front door did she realise that David had come with her. He smiled as he held it open and she ducked under his arm and onto the street.

"Would you like to go to dinner sometime? I'll need someone to teach me all the little quirks of the trade." He chuckled as he spoke, a soft dry sound that reminded Beth a little of Mick when he was laughing but didn't want to be noticed. She hoped that she wasn't going to continue to compare this poor unassuming man to an immortal vampire and decided to give him a chance.

"Sure. I'd love to."

**Hello guys, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've been doing exams and working and stuff- real life has been very inconvenient and getting in the way. I hope you like this chapter, I'm trying to keep Beth more involved from now on. If you have any critiques at all, even tiny ones, don't hesitate to share, I'd love to make the story better for you!**

**Thanks, **

**Charlotte. x **


	15. Chapter 15

Mick awoke the next afternoon alone, holding one of the bags of ice that had been packed around him, presumably by Josef. He allowed himself to smile at the tenderness of the gesture. Upon further exploration of the suite, (something he had not had time for the night before), he discovered a room at the back in which the largest bed that Mick had ever seen was situated, surrounded by a plush blue carpet like some kind of island. It crossed Mick's mind that this would have been much more comfortable than the leather of the sofa, had they stopped for a second to consider what they were doing. Not that Mick regretted a single moment.

Josef wasn't to be found anywhere but Mick found that this was not worrying, and began to undress for the shower at a casual pace. There was nowhere in particular he had to be today, and no-one of importance that he had to see. Perhaps he could use this time to visit some of the attractions that the beautiful city of San Francisco had to offer. Play the tourist for the day. The thought was appealing and he wondered if he could convince Josef to do the same, though it was unlikely. Wandering in the daytime was uncomfortable at the best of times, but with Josef's paranoia things might become unbearable if he thought their secret was in jeopardy.

Freshly showered and newly dressed, Mick dialled Josef's number whilst pouring himself a glass of chilled blood. He picked up on the second ring.

"Mick, good afternoon."

"I suppose you do that to all of your conquests." Mick chided dramatically. "Steal away during the night without so much as a goodbye." There was a quiet chuckle at the other end of the line, and the smile could be heard in Josef's voice when he replied.

"Pretty much. You are the first that's managed to track me down using my cell phone number, though. I suppose you took that whilst _I _was sleeping?"

"I'm a private investigator. I have my methods."

"I'll bet you do. Let me make my poor behavior up to you. Meet me for dinner this evening. There's a fantastically exclusive club downtown that I've been given access to. Promises to be an interesting meal, and there's a friend I would like you to meet."

Mick pretended to consider this for a minute before agreeing to go. He had to admit that the idea of going out with Josef in a capacity other than friendship was somewhat exciting. He almost felt nervous. They arranged to meet at 8 o'clock, leaving Mick with hours to kill and a city to see.

He closed the suite behind him and, reflecting his good mood, nodded politely at a passing man with a briefcase in his hand. The stranger smiled his acknowledgement jovially in return, flashing a set of bleached white teeth in Mick's direction, and was forgotten before Mick even reached the elevator.

The scenery proved to be the most breathtaking as it flew past the window of the tram he had chosen to take a tour of the city in. Built on hills, there was a new view at the crest of every ascent, each one a little more beautiful than the last. The ocean sparkled, sea foam glittering on the waves as they danced with the wind. Had he been human, Mick knew that it was in a place like San Francisco that he would have settled down. In a bittersweet fantasy, he could imagine raising children in this city and, growing old, sitting back and watching the grandchildren scampering past, playing with their friends in the safety of a suburban neighbourhood.

He enjoyed the walking almost as much as the journey on the tram. Here he could smell the sea salt on the air, felt for a moment that he could taste it on his tongue. Although he kept to the shady side of the street, he wanted to walk in the sun, feel the heat on his face even though it wouldn't have been pleasant. He would have liked to have spent this time with Josef; it felt like they should be creating memories together now. It was a consolation that they would get the evening with one another, and a bonus that they would get the rest of the night also.

Up ahead lay the shopping precinct and, on a whim, Mick decided that he would buy something new for the evening's events. With a half hour before the stores closed, he knew he would have to be quick. He picked up a handful of shirts in assorted colors, intending to decide which the best was from the comfort of his hotel room, where he would not be rushed. The cashier looked relieved by this as he rang everything through, and Mick found himself sympathising. There were many occasions where he'd seen customer's from hell shouting or complaining about poor sales assistants that were simply trying to do their job. It could make any day seem three times as long as it actually was.

Walking back through the maze of unfamiliar streets, Mick couldn't help but smile to himself. Here he was, nervous and excited about a date. With _Josef, _of all people. This man he had known for decades, and there were butterflies fluttering by in this stomach. In the best possible way. Once more Mick found himself comparing his previous relationship with Beth to whatever label stuck now, and realising that everything he had ever thought about love was wrong.

Was that what this was? Love? It appeared to be the case on Josef's part. He was, after all, the one who had instigated this whole affair. So far, Mick had allowed himself to be swept along in the romance of it. And he hadn't minded that at all. It was nice not to be the one calling the shots all of the time. He tried to consider the idea of feeling the same about Josef, attempted to imagine their lives together. Suddenly, the butterflies felt heavier, and the light, giddy nausea causing a lump in his throat. It was ridiculous that he felt this worried about commitment, but it was the truth.

There was only one person he wanted to talk about it with, and in the beginnings of a panic, Mick picked up the phone to dial.

**Hello guys, thankyou once again for making it this far! I feel quite honoured. I edited this chapter to make it longer at a certain someone's suggestion... :) I don't know whether this is much better though haha. **

**Charlotte.**


	16. Chapter 16

"Hello?"

"Beth, its me." There was an awkward pause at the other end of the line, and Mick felt the need to clarify. "It's Mick."

A sigh worked its way across the distance, and he found himself wondering if calling Beth had really been the right thing to do. They certainly hadn't left things on the best of terms, and most of that was his doing. Yet Beth had gone to Josef when she was in trouble. Even then, she had turned to the vampires. He would expect this of her, but most days found himself wondering why she put herself through it at all. Now, she just sounded tired, and resigned.

"I know. I just wasn't expecting a call from you."

"It's good to hear your voice. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to call with news." Mick knew that this was a half truth, and suspected that Beth was aware that he'd been specifically avoiding making a call back home, instead goading Josef to do all of the talking whilst he paced impatiently in the background, chewing on his nails.

"Was there something you needed from me? Or has something happened.?" He could just imagine her now, massaging small circles into the lids of her eyes as she listened to him talk. A testament to how long he had been watching over her.

"Oh no, nothing's happened since Josef called you I just-" Mick paused, drawing a deep inward breath of sea air as he walked slowly back to the hotel. "I just wanted to talk." He stopped there, waiting for Beth to accept him again, like she always did.

"Talk about what? We didn't talk much when we were together, Mick, what could you possibly want to talk about now?"

"I'm seeing someone." He said quietly. As expected, there was a long and uncomfortable silence, and he found himself considering this the most awkward phone call he had ever made. Two whole blocks had passed before Beth found her voice again.

"So am I." She replied just as quietly. Mick detected a hint of sadness, but he wasn't sure whether this was because she was seeing someone, or because he was. A suspicion that it could be attributed to both of these factors was confirmed when more information was fired at him in a torrent of words.

"His name is David, I met him today at BuzzWire. I only went there to pick up my things form my desk, it wasn't like I'm going back there to work or anything, not after that ridiculous man took over from Maureen and ruined everything, but he was a new guy and he was having trouble with the desk drawer, you know, that one that always sticks? So I helped him and he offered to take me out to dinner…"

"And you said yes. That's completely understandable Beth, after everything I said to you. Nothing to explain to me." He found himself trying to placate her, felt anxious about the fact that again, Beth was allowing for his feelings before she considered doing anything solely for herself. It was one of the reasons he had thought he loved her.

"I know," she replied. "I just can't help it. So, this new girl in your life. She keeping you busy? Because you haven't called in a while."

"Well, sort of. I mean, we're still following all of the possibilities regarding those photographs, but there's not really been as much information as we were originally hoping for. No-one wants to admit they killed one of their own kind, you know?"

He hoped that by keeping the conversation on the real reason they were in San Francisco, Beth would forget about this mystery person she had assumed was female. It was perfectly reasonable to assume such a thing, but suddenly Mick felt uncomfortable talking about Josef was though he was a woman. Yet there was no way he was going to drop another bomb on her now. There was no telling what she'd do, but he was pretty certain about how she would feel. Still, Beth was a reporter first and foremost, and she had an eye for the details.

"So you've been spending more time with her than you originally planned! When are you seeing her next?"

"Tonight actually. That was the reason I called you Beth; I'm really nervous. I know you're probably the last one that wants to listen to this, but I didn't know who else to call. The only other person that knows me as well as you is Josef." As soon as the words left his mouth he knew he'd landed himself in a hole.

"And what does Josef have to say about all of this?" Beth shot the question at him as though she were interviewing him for a particularly gripping story. Part of him was pleased, for the awkwardness that had encompassed the first half of the conversation had all but disappeared. But while Mick didn't want to lie, he couldn't bring himself to completely tell the truth, either.

"I haven't really spoken to Josef about it properly. Never really seems to be the right moment. He's been stressed about what happened with Sarah. You know how he gets. Feels responsible." It was as close as he could get to the truth without actually pulling back the curtain and revealing it. He held his breath, worried he might say to much.

"Well maybe you should discuss this with him. I'm kind of biased don't you think? After all, I don't expect you to listen to me rambling on David. Not that there's much to be rambling on about, but you know what I mean."

"Josef is kind of indisposed tonight. Please Beth, you're the only one I can talk to. What if I ruin things?"

Once more there was a sigh from within Mick's earpiece. He knew that, yet again, he was being selfish to involve Beth, but he couldn't help himself. Even now, she was a source of comfort.

"Just… be yourself okay?" She muttered bitterly. "People can't help but fall for your charms. And wear a white shirt."

With that Beth abruptly ended the call, and Mick found himself staring blankly at the wall of his room, unsure of when exactly he had made it back. He realised that he should have asked at least one question about this David. At the very least he could have pretended to have been interested in whatever she had to say about him. But no, instead he talked only of himself and how he was feeling. It was a wonder she'd ever wanted anything to do with him. Mick was tempted to call her back and apologise again, to try and make things right, but if he were Beth, he wouldn't want to talk to himself either.

On a whim, he made the decision to tell Josef how he felt. How the hazelnut in his eyes made him seem unassuming and yet deadly - that he wanted to keep staring into them forever, however stupid it sounded. How those slim but muscular hands fit perfectly into his own.

He pulled on a new white shirt, crisp at the creases and, giving his hair the once over, crossed the suite in three long strides. Before shutting out the lights and locking the door as he left, Mick placed his cell phone on the stand in their bedroom. After all, he was going to see the only person he wanted to talk to.

**I'm a bad person for leaving things this long, but here is the new chapter. I hope you like it! **

**Charlotte.**


	17. Chapter 17

_At the same time, Beth was locking the door of her own apartment as she left it for the evening. She too had left her phone behind, worried that Mick would try to call again with another convoluted explanation as to why it was okay that they were seeing other people when really, it was ridiculous. She had only said something about David, only tried to sound like she was happy for him because she couldn't bear for him to realise that she was still sore. _

_And of course she was sore, after the way Mick had treated her! Like his vampire status made him a superior being, and that humans were nothing more than playthings until something slightly more shiny or exciting came along. She wondered idly if this new woman in his life was a vampire too, or only human like herself, and decided she didn't really want to know. If she were human, then the separation would only be harder to bear, for then, Beth knew there would have been something fundamental in herself that Mick couldn't work past. If she were vampire, then… well that would have explained a lot of things. _

_She was waiting alone outside her building for David to come and pick her up for their dinner date. Checking her watch, she realised that she was ten minutes early, having been in such a rush to leave the apartment and thoughts of Mick behind. She was sorely tempted to cancel the whole affair, but knowing that he _was out with someone else, having fun, almost made her blood boil in her veins and she steeled her resolve.

It wasn't that she didn't like David. Well, she didn't know that she didn't like David. What she did know was that David wasn't Mick, and this was a fatal flaw in her eyes. She hoped that eventually this would change, but for now, she only had eyes for an eighty-five year old vampire that had saved her childhood and stolen her heart. And if anyone had ever tried to tell her the story that was her life, she would have laughed right in their faces, because it really did sound crazy. But it wasn't a story. It was a harsh reality.

Beth's mind was still inevitably on Mick when a sleek black Mercedes pulled up next to her on the sidewalk. Her first instinct was to step back, allow whoever was inside the car to get out, but when the window rolled down she spotted a set of pearly white teeth smiling politely at her, and knew that David had arrived. Five minutes early, too.

"Can I give you a ride somewhere?" David asked, as though offering a complete stranger a lift home.

"No, thank you, I'm just waiting for a gentleman to whisk me off into the sunset." David clutched dramatically at his chest as though someone had pierced his heart before recovering.

"Well, I can't whisk you away I'm afraid - work commitments. But I am a gentleman, so perhaps you could settle for dinner this time?"

Beth smiled, pretending to consider the offer.

"I think that would be okay. I just feel bad for the next gentleman that comes along - he'll have no-one to whisk away now." She slid gracefully into the car, careful not the expose herself in more ways then one. David pulled smoothly away from the curb, smiling that confidently gentle smile, his head once more inclined in her direction, like it had been the other day when they had met over their desks.

They sat in companionable silence for the majority of the journey across town, and Beth found herself wondering if she had ever experienced this with Mick; the ability to just sit and be in someone's company without feeling the need to fill the silence with meaningless chatter. And then she remembered she'd promised herself that she wasn't going to compare David to Mick anymore. Eventually, after warring with herself over whether she should wait until dinner to begin a proper conversation, Beth decided there was no time like the present.

"So, how are you finding working at BuzzWire?"

"I'm liking it a lot." David replied in an abrasive Chicago baritone. "So much more casual than the last place I worked. The editor is really lenient on the deadlines for pieces." Involuntarily, Beth huffed.

"That was one of the reasons I left, to be truthful. Maureen had such structure to the place, everyone knew exactly where they were meant to be and what they were meant to be doing and the magazine was literally a well-oiled machine. Since she died…"

Beth trailed off, realising in that moment that she had never really dealt with Maureen's murder in a way that gave her closure. And now, she was having trouble even mentioning the fact that the woman was dead. Like the gentleman he proclaimed himself to be, David picked up the conversation as though nothing had happened.

"I had my first piece yesterday, just a simple job catching some socialite in a compromising position on her agent's floor, that kind of thing. Really below my standards if you ask me, but a job is a job and I could always do with the money, to be truthful." He raised his hands, as though admitting to some kind of defeat. She eyed him suspiciously.

"You have a Mercedes." She pointed out, gesturing about herself, but he shook his head.

"Not mine," he replied. "Well, it is mine, but I didn't buy it. Rich father." He added when she looked at him questioningly, "Rich dead father."

"I'm sorry." Beth mumbled, a knee-jerk reaction that no-one really meant, but it always seemed like the right thing to say to someone. Even though you personally had nothing to be sorry for. David waved her away.

"It was years ago. And we were never really that close."

Even though the statement effectively ended the car conversation, Beth found herself enjoying the time she spent with David. The evening moved quickly, and on several occasions she caught herself laughing with him as he recalled anecdote after witty anecdote. All too soon she found themselves back in the Mercedes reclining against the plush leather as David wound his way around the dimly lit streets. He dropped Beth right outside her building door, getting out of the car to walk her right into her apartment.

As she fumbled in her bag for her key, David moved in for a kiss. In the split before their lips touched, Beth jerked her head to the side, so that he pecked her cheek. When he pulled back, she could see the confusion in his eyes, but she also knew that he would take the rebuff like the gentleman he proclaimed himself to be.

"It's just-" She felt liked she owed him an explanation. "- I just came out of a relationship, a serious one, and while I certainly don't love him anymore, I don't think, anyway, I'm not over him. Not by any stretch of the imagination. And I like you, David, I do, I think, and so I don't want to go anywhere near this," she waved at the space between them absently, "until I'm definitely past that." She ran her hand through the air back toward the stairs, indicating the past.

"That makes sense." He replied after a moments thought. "Thank you for explaining that to me. I had a wonderful time tonight, Beth. I'll call you. Maybe next time I'll whisk you off into the sunset like you wanted, you never know."

And with a rueful smile he left, whistling tunelessly as we trotted down the stairway and out into the night. Beth finally managed to get a hand on her keys and unlocked her door, a light skip in her step. The beginning was always the most exciting part.

Her excitement was short-lived, however, when she spotted the envelope that had been slipped underneath her door while she'd been out. Dropping her bag on the ground, she tentatively reached out for it, as though scared it might leap her and bite her hand off. All of a sudden she was nervous, and not in the nice way that made your stomach lighter. This kind weighed you down.

One look at the photographs confirmed her fears. Her phone was elusive for a precious few seconds, but when she found it she dialled the one number that had always been embedded in her mind.

**Sorry again for not posting for so long, I already started the next chapter if that helps, but I don't know how long it will be until you guys get to see it! Thankyou all for being so patient!**

**Charlotte.**


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